Out Of Contact | EasyJet Flight 6074

[@chuckbiscuito]

Not mentioned: While their transponder was disabled (for about 10 minutes), they had a close call with an American flight (as they were invisible on TCAS)

[@sierraromeomike]

Was transponder available after those 10 minutes? Did any ATC read the 7700 squawk code?

[@chuckbiscuito]

@@sierraromeomike Yes. The conflict occurred just before secondary radar returns for EZY6074 resumed. And a few seconds later, the transponder code changed to 7700.

[@patriciamariemitchel]

I wonder how close?

[@moiraatkinson]

It shouldn’t have been that close if both planes were at their correct altitudes. But if TCAS wasn’t working then it sounds like the two planes must have been close enough to see each other unless it was ATC who noticed the conflict.

[@chuckbiscuito]

@@moiraatkinson from page 31 of the report (EW/C2006/09/04): "At 1056 hrs a westbound aircraft, callsign AAL63, checked in at FL 320 and was acknowledged by Brest ATCC. The radar controller then realised that if EZY6074 was continuing along its assigned north-north-westerly track at FL 320, there was a danger of it conflicting with AAL63, routing from east to west at the same flight level. He called AAL63 and asked if they could see the missing aircraft on their TCAS. After conferring with his replacement controller, as a precaution he decided to instruct AAL63 to descend to FL 310. The shift change went ahead despite the complication of the apparently missing aircraft and the resultant inability of one shift to carry out a complete handover of information to the other. The oncoming radar controller was anxious to ensure that the AAL63 started a descent without delay and issued a second instruction to the aircraft to descend. AAL63 then started a descent and a few moments later one of the flight crew advised that they had seen an “easyJet 737” pass overhead northbound, but it was not visible on their TCAS display. The radar controllers were relieved that the EZY6074 had been found, but also alarmed that it had come so close to another aircraft. A few moments later, the secondary radar signal from EZY6074 reappeared and one minute later the ‘squawk’ code changed to 7700, the emergency code."

[@DavePainkiller]

Thankfully, the FO was able to keep their senses, awareness of their surroundings, and not get caught up in the issue. In some of these, you see both Capt and FO get caught up with an issue, with nobody watching their outside surroundings. Helluva crew that day. Everyone survived, and that's all that matters.

[@j81851]

I'd agree 100% the crew with some Divine assistance no doubt was thoughtful, wise, keep cool heads and prevailed. I basically did a goal post yahoo when the plane landed safely. Then the parade of poor design, poor maintenance, terrible troubleshooting, not the fault of the great crew of course, began to be revealed.

[@geoh7777]

They were aided immensely by the fact that it was not nighttime.

[@chrisclermont456]

Absolutely. Thinking the same thing..

[@grassytramtracks]

​@@geoh7777I don't know, seeing planes can be really hard to see in the daylight and it was ATC who told the American Airlines crew to descend

[@davidlynch5205]

I have flown and instructed on many Airbus airplanes from the 319 to 340-500. This was a really serious event. Excellent teamwork and decision making required and demonstrated by a two pilot crew. A good example of why Single pilot operations should never be allowed to fly.

[@thatinventionsus]

Would be very interesting to learn more about what exactly happened at various Area Controls along the route, and what was happening at Bristol Approach and Bristol Tower when they spotted this unannounced visitor.

[@DNTMEE]

That's what I'm wondering. I guess they saw it and when no contact could be made they quickly cleared the area of all traffic and waited. At least it was expected and following the flight plan so the plane at least had that going for it. The Captain definitely made the right decision in that regard. Perhaps also other planes in the area could see it and gave whatever info they could.

[@geoffedmonds6507]

Indeed! I mean given 9/11 it is as you might expect a huge issue a plane coming in from say 40 miles out to say absolutely nothing during the entire approach and landing. What I also find mind boggling is the plane wasn't met by some form of airport security?? Makes you wonder doesn't it? Great video though.

[@whimsical_ninja]

From the final report: "Bristol ATC first became aware of the emergency traffic inbound at 1110 hrs when they were called by ATC at West Drayton, who advised that EZY6074 was over the south coast of England in a descent, but not in radio contact. Bristol ATC took action to notify all the responsible authorities to ensure the airport was prepared to accept the emergency aircraft. A full emergency was declared by the airport at 1116 hrs. All air traffic movements at Bristol Airport were suspended as the aircraft approached. When the aircraft was established on final approach, the tower controller broadcasted blind transmissions giving landing clearance and surface wind information."

[@Capecodham]

because that would be interesting it is not included.

[@Kat-kv7fo]

I think Allec is more concerned with the aspects of the flight than the ground operations that followed the landing. It is disturbing that some people think that an animated reconstruction of the flight sequence is somehow indicative of the response of the whole airport to the emergency. The news agencies reports of 2006 describe a massive response from the airport and city fire service, ambulances alongside armed response from both the police and military. The plane was tracked from 1116 hours by the military from ground-based anti-aircraft facilities. To reassure ​ @Geoff Edmonds there is no conspiracy to be milked out of this, nothing 'make you wonder' ... google first, type second

[@JaymesEaston]

Thanks again for your in depth report. You are on the right track by highlighting aviation that did not result in loss of life. For viewers, who have interests in aviation, these episodes are puzzles. There are subscribers who interact as if they were the PIC, with their own ideas of solutions, which is stimulating. I want to compliment you for your technical sophistication to educate how these complex systems work. It benefits us to follow the logic trains that we can use in everyday life. Outstanding, Allec. I appreciate the work that you put into this.

[@smartysmarty1714]

When I used to fly (private), I always kept a hand held transceiver in my flight bag. Something as simple as this could have saved the day in this situation. I'm surprised they aren't mandatory equipment.

[@airaction2257]

Agree 100% this could have allowed the pilots to contact ATC and possibly avoid an in flight collision with other aircraft.

[@gunsaway1]

I know pilots who carry them. You never know

[@watershed44]

@smartysmarty1714 BINGO small portable Amateur Radio (2m-10m-75cm) hand held 2 way will work perfectly in these cases. I would never fly without one and two spare battery packs.

[@dx1450]

@@watershed44 The trouble is that an amateur radio HT will only work for talking to amateur radio operators. In this instance, you really need a handheld air band transceiver so you can communicate with ATC or other aircraft. Even if you just used it on the guard frequency of 121.5 everyone would know what was going on. Other aircraft could relay to ATC for you if you weren't close enough for ATC to hear you.

[@watershed44]

@@dx1450 Actually you can get an Amateur Hand Held that is "unlocked", and can be used on the VHF air band if you are a pilot. They are sold to licensed pilots.

[@virginiaviola5097]

Cool in a crises pilots is what every passenger wants. I love a happy ending.

[@jamesdamron2065]

They had great pilots!!!

[@pibbles-a-plenty1105]

The word "contractor" is a misspelling of "contactor," which is an electrically operated switch. A welded contactor is a switch that is stuck in the closed position due to welding of the contacts by an intense arc across the contacts. A contactor connects electrical power circuits together for routing of current from the generators to the various electrical distribution systems. Contactors also function like fuses by opening to protect the airplane in the event of an overload or short circuit.

[@blrenx]

Sorry but I get a little bit triggered when people use words. or correct others When in reality they don't know the meaning themselfs, Your use of the word Contactor is incorrect as it applies to this malfunction. the word you're looking for is A conductor, or electrical conductor, is a substance or material that allows electricity to flow through it. In a conductor, electrical charge carriers, usually electrons or ions, move easily from atom to atom when voltage is applied. A Contactor is basically a fusebox . If that were the problem all the pilots would have to do reset the curicbracker .. and they tried . The issue here is clear ... Lack of Conduction

[@j81851]

@@blrenx No the use of CONTACTOR is absolutely and totally correct! Bill do your research to see. And sorry I GET TRIGGERED WHEN PEOPLE SPEAK OUT ABOUT SOMETHING THEY DO NOT UNDERSTAND AS THOUGH THEY DO!!!!!!! A contactor is an electrical component in power circuit. It is usually rated for many amps and is able to open and close safely carrying a load (load break) or close into a possibly loaded circuit (load make) It is operated remotely by a switch directly or a relay via a switch. The contactor has what is known as an operating coil that may be the same voltage as the power circuit, or a lessor voltage (control voltage) to reduce stress and hazards for switch or relay operation that turns the contactor on. Think of a heater contactor in your A/C furnace at home. It has 40 amp or more contacts for power and is switched on by your thermostat at 24VAC control voltage. And NO ABSOLUTELY NOT the contactor is NOT a fuse box or fuse block or fuse. It does diametrically the reverse of a fuse. It does not open in this situation, or fault it WELDS TOGETHER fusing the contacts and creating effectively a closed circuit. Since it is the power device dead shorted now a circuit breaker or fuse must trip or blow upstream to open the circuit and relieve the over current causing the fault When called upon to open in an excess load or operate continuously overloaded in a circuit the contacts of the CONTACTOR may overheat and melt or weld together. Then at that stag it cannot be remotely controlled and creates a dangerous hazard Sorry but it is ok to speak with authority when you are knowledgeable but NOT OK if you do not understand the topic. 50 year electrician, designer and engineer chiming in her for what it is worth!

[@franknice2308]

Whoa. When I fly, I hope I will always have pilots of these guys' caliber and coolness and thoroughness. They checked and considered almost every variable possible both in and out of the box. GREAT job. I would be comfortable with either the Captain or First Officer--BOTH pilots.

[@williamsquires3070]

I would also recommend a battery-backup system specifically for the communications radios (and at least one transponder) so the pilots can call for pan-pan-pan, or a mayday. A strident tone would sound when it switches over to battery so the pilots know they have limited time left to use the radios to call for help; this is similar to battery-backup systems for modern desktop computers.

[@Kat-kv7fo]

If a battery backup had been made available to the transponder alone; a 7500 code would have gone a long way to ease the ATC's problems, whilst a transponder code is not reliable against a hostile act it would be a starting point for decision making

[@watershed44]

@williamsquires3070 A good reason to have a emergency 2m-75cm or HF Amateur Radio transceiver with you if you are a pilot! Where mobile phones fail, these portable Amateur Radios will work perfectly with their own power packs.

[@chrisclermont456]

Thinking the same thing.

[@abingdonboy]

@@Kat-kv7fo7500 is hijack

[@patrickunderwood5662]

Alec, in this episode you sound exactly like some of the electrical engineers I work with. And my reaction here is the same as with them: “Uh… What?”

[@TheAdx1001]

Yep I'm a structures and systems mechanic so all the electrical and avionics stuff sounds like mumbo jumbo to me lol

[@ontheroadagainwithvinny931]

That's the type of logical thinking air crew I would want on every flight.

[@Eseseso494]

It's always a relief when everyone survives. Great work as usual, Allec!

[@DeltaFoxtrotWhiskey3]

Anyone else think that more information/investigation into the maintenance crew is needed? The faulty part was rejected for service three times before being installed in this aircraft. Seems to me that if a part fails service inspection twice (fails once and then again after repair) it should be considered a reject and never brought near an aircraft. Send it to an aviation maintenance training program or something, but don’t put it on an otherwise airworthy aircraft.

[@SimonWallwork]

Just out of interest, I was getting ready to take off at Bristol that day. We taxied up to the 09 hold, but they wouldn't let us line up. After a while, and without a word on the radio, this easy jet appeared, swooped down and landed. How very odd, we thought. So if the crew read this- hello from the Embraer you saw waiting as you landed.

[@jyralnadreth4442]

Scary situation...especially with the thought of being fired upon if perceived hostile. They really needed to have an independent communications system with its own power supply etc in-case of problems like this. Can the Flight data recorders transponder not be used to attract attention?

[@Island_proper]

Qa

[@Supersean0001]

The FDRs have no connection to an antenna; they're just recorders. The only other thing they have connected to them is an ULB--Underwater Locator Beacon, the little 'sonar pinger' used to find the FDR if the airplane goes down over the ocean A well-prepared pilot MIGHT have a hand-held aviation radio (essentially a big walkie-talkie for aircraft) in their flight bag, but there's no requirement for this. A lot of general aviation pilots carry them, just in case.

[@jyralnadreth4442]

@Sean35015 Damn the FFR uses Sonar (I knew they had a way of detecting them post crash but didnt know it was only useful for ocean crashes).....but the Aviation Radio....that should be mandatory. This case was a near miss as fortunately the aircraft could still fly. Just looked for the Aviation Radios...they come with GPS, weather channels and all kinds of flight plan stuff. £300-£500 range models....could have easily assisted this crew 😊

[@jeremypearson6852]

If you were a passenger, this flight exactly as planned with no issues. The pilots went through all of the correct procedures and fortunately, the second officer’s instruments were functioning.

[@patriciamariemitchel]

You could say it was a narrowly diverted disaster, but these guys had their act together. Everything started going south. Even the APU refused to come out of its cubby hole; but they kept making all the right choices. 👏👍 It's like God sent angels to clear a path for that plane. 🙌🕊️

[@clarsach29]

It is hard to over-emphasise just how serious this incident was for this flight....not only were they invisible for 10 minutes (during which time French Air Force planes were likely getting ready to be scrambled to intercept), but they could have had serious issues with cabin pressure and oxygen and potentially become another Helios 522....not to mention landing without any ATC contact! I can only assume ATC guessed what was happening and moved all other aircraft out of the way, but this incident came only a few years after 9/11 and I bet they were very jumpy when they couldn't contact the plane.

[@davidhoekje7842]

I was surprised to read that the pilots didn't go on oxygen (or at least one of them) when the system indicated pressurization issues, regardless of whether it appeared to be in error.

[@paullacey2999]

Im glad that ended well,I like Easy Jet,always helpful people who work for them👍

[@ericwilner1403]

Having once, long ago, confronted AT&T's standards for power distribution in telco central offices, I never cease to be shocked by poor redundancy practices in aircraft design. There are ways of doing this right, they've been well documented for decades, and they don't have to add a lot of weight. Design the systems right, and in a case like this the crew will just get a polite notice that a failure has occurred while the redundant power distribution handles the situation without a bobble. But that would require rethinking some standards that were written in blood back in the 1950s or thereabouts, when the practicalities were very different. (Oh, boy: yet another Chesterton's Fence exercise!)

[@carypyke935]

Just thankful everyone made it down safely

[@jamesgraham6122]

They followed the correct procedure when faced with a loss of comms.. continue as planned, that's what ATC expects.. deviating from that procedure serves only to add confusion. This was a typical incident that needs to be kept in mind when non-pilots refer to us as 'Airborn Bus Drivers'.

[@DNForeverable]

No one refers to pilots that way, maybe you heard it once but come on now

[@jamesgraham6122]

@@DNForeverable I've heard that deprecating term uttered many times, I'm probably a lot older than you... hang in there :>)

[@irasemamendez95]

Allec, it's incredibly that if it wasn't for these videos, we as passengers could never knew all the stress that some pilotos go through to save the airplane and the passengers, my respects for those pilots that try the impossible for ours safety

[@johannesbols57]

I'm an avgeek and I have no idea where on the aircraft all of this took place. I diagram overlay of the airframe would help to show those of us who aren't proficient in the finer details of aircraft design where this took place. I don't understand how the flight was able to proceed to Bristol without anybody at ATC wondering why they weren't responding to commands. When you descend you're given vectors. At the very least if there was any change in the planned flight path ATC would need to let the flight deck know. It makes no sense to me...

[@roberthagedorn290]

I was thinking the same thing. It looks like the pilot landed the plane as if it were a small plane with only rudimentary controls landing in a field. But he obviously had some sense of where he was and was able to find the runway. Then the engines wouldn't even shut down without extra action being taken. I suspect the passengers had no idea of the seriousness of the situation even after being briefed by the head flight attendant. Everyone was extraordinarily lucky the first officer's instrument panel still functioned miraculously.

[@gregmarchegiani6656]

Also for the pilot it made no sense. And copilot was clueless as well. The real story is that the airplane landed itself. At destination of course because it was tired and needed a cup of coffee at home upon arrival

[@toddb930]

With all the automation firmware involved it would have been difficult to show what was the cause. It sounds like Airbus had redundant capability here but the firmware out-smarted itself.

[@billolsen4360]

Wise, professional flight crew on this plane 13:48 Easy Jet's slogan on this flight was "Come on, let's LAND!"

[@Steamtramman719]

The flight crew must have been under enormous outside pressure to take off relying on only an APU. This was forbidden for us as normally the APU was only deployed in an emergency. Things change - not always for the better.

[@davidhoekje7842]

I was very surprised to read that they were operating on the APU. At least in retrospect, the failure of the #1 generator was really a failure of the #1 generators electrical supply system, and as such the APU which relied on common components didn't address the underlying issue. In my mind I was fearing reading that smoke would appear on the aircraft.

[@oliverclark8873]

In 2006 there must have been military jets with eyes on them when this happened, although it wasn’t mentioned.

[@NeumsFor9]

Every time I see "Come On. Let's Fly!"..... I'm thinking.... yeah, maybe not that day!

[@ranchopatriot]

Great job by the pilots. So they landed without clearance from ATC?

[@AllecJoshuaIbay]

I believe so

[@Supersean0001]

Control towers have light guns with different colored lenses to use to signal aircraft with no operational radios, when to hold, when they're cleared to land, etc.. Not sure if they were used in this instance, however.

[@GemmaLB]

They must have, with no radio and no way to contact anyone. Lucky it wasn't at La Guardia or LAX

[@chuckbiscuito]

They received a “blind” clearance from ATC on final, but it’s not mentioned in the report whether they heard it.

[@chrisclermont456]

Glad these folks made it safely to their destination!! 😅

[@WendyKS93]

This was an edge of your seat nail biting video for sure. I enjoyed it as I enjoy all of your videos. However, I have no clue as to what you were saying when you were giving us the information on the findings. The explanation of what caused this to happen was not something I could understand. It read like a foreign language to me. LOL!!! This old gal is not stupid but sometimes a little bit simpler explanation would be so very helpful. Have a wonderful weekend Mr. Allec and stay safe. Looking forward to the next video.

[@alexandermonro6768]

Basically, the aircraft's electrical system entered an "unanticipated failure mode" due to an intermittent fault in the generator control unit triggering a protection system that was designed to protect against an electrical fire. Aircraft electrical systems are getting very complex, and in this case, probably beyond the capability of a single human mind to fully comprehend all possible interdependencies. I used to design industrial instrumentation and control systems, and I used to worry a lot about unanticipated failure modes. I'm glad that I never had to design anything life dependent.

[@WendyKS93]

@@alexandermonro6768 Bless you my friend. So appreciated your explanation. Now this I can comprehend. Have a wonderful holiday weekend.

[@FoolAndHisMoney23]

Good explanation of a complex situation.

[@allenmurray7893]

No emergency backup. Unbelievable.

[@mush857]

there is an emergency backup: the AC ESS system is meant to (and now with the introduction of AC ESS auto-switching does) supply essential power to the cockpit in case of electrical degradation. the only difference is that now it turns itself on when it sees fit, whereas before it didn't.

[@soaringvulture]

@@mush857 An emergency backup that doesn't turn on isn't an emergency backup.

[@mush857]

@@soaringvulture i think you misunderstood. AC ESS could still be manually accessed before by the pilots, but within a short timeframe after the loss of GEN 1 and 2 since the switches are operated by solenoids. Auto-switching only ensures that even if pilots don't react appropriately, essential power is still supplied automatically

[@byronharano2391]

Another excellent video with investigation finds Aviation Pilot Allec

[@SandraLily2]

Wow! This one was nerve-wracking!

[@JazzPerrache611F]

Allec I love your videos🎉🎉🎉

[@j81851]

Although Boeing has their skeletons in the closet in spades (Multiple catastrophic issues with even the venerable 737) Airbus just keeps popping up. It seems unfathomable to me that a single fault on a generator or an APU would black out any or even possibly all electrical and safety/collision avoidance systems. I am an electrical engineer, working electrician and power equipment designer With that 50 year background in mind I am totally blown away the fault sequence reported here is even possible. Automation and integration my highly skilled programmers with NO flying experience is showcased here. Design looks good on paper. Protect the systems. Create trip sequences. Problem however is an aircraft cannot pull over at 31,000 feet pop a cowl and troubleshoot a APU or generator fault. How did the Airbus engineers manage to bungle this so absolutely badly? In utility circles I am fortunate to get to revolve in sometimes we see a alpha bravo charlie arrangement. Alpha Bravo have their own feed sources. Charlie is a aux tie breaker for emergencies. You can imagine if a hydro dam generating plant looses an aux bus (480V power for pumps, fans lighting and utilities as well as instruments) you can see how dangerous that could be. They have the aux bus interlocked and protected such as shot of a catastrophe the dam will never loose us of at least 1 aux or standby bus. As for an airplane short of all generators out, APU out, backup batteries dead there should be NO WAY part of all the cockpit of the airline should ever go dark. Who's the who and how's the how Airbus, or regulators in France or the FAA in the us ever allow a plane to take off with flawed logic that turns off part of the electrical system critical to safe flight without a safe path to total and complete transparent change over without degradation?

[@tomstravels520]

The basic principle of the A320 is the same with any other commercial aircraft. Displays are connected to electrical AC Busses, those Busses are powered by generators/ground power or batteries use DC power and then convert to AC. If that particular BUS fails, everything connected to that BUS goes off. If a generator goes off, the other generator can power the opposite AC BUS. I suggest you familiarise yourself with the A320 electrical system and maybe some other aircraft.

[@wazzazone]

Wow great report Alec. Thanks

[@jcnme27]

So, did they land at Bristol without any comms with ATC? That would be a scary situation within itself.

[@andrewthomas5348]

Yes, and what happened after they landed? Was the SWAT Team called?

[@chrisharris9633]

@@andrewthomas5348in the UK no SWOT, but Sandford police did attend to put up a cordon

[@andrewthomas5348]

@@chrisharris9633 Alright, thanks for the info.

[@chuckbiscuito]

Correct, no duplex voice comms, but they were (eventually) on controller radar displays during their approach. Tower gave the flight a “blind” clearance and field winds call, in case the crew could hear tower.

[@davidhoekje7842]

@@chuckbiscuito I assume there are procedures for landing with no radio's. Something like a low pass with visual flight rules followed by landing if the runway is clear. Certainly not an ideal situation.

[@donalfinn4205]

I do like the way these vids are done and explained.☘️👍

[@qg3726]

When you're 30.000 Ft. in the air everything IS crucial for optimal performance. This series of issues literally took the Pilot's attention from keeping FOCUSED on the task at hand..

[@davidhull1481]

That flight crew deserves the brass balls award.

[@marga_rita7]

That videos don't soothe my fear of flights. .

[@petuniaskunk2316]

NotSoEasyJet

[@DMR-YT]

yeah not soEasyJet

[@skullbac654]

Jetdifficult

[@sunnyfon9065]

HardJet

[@nhathuybui1928]

Ha ha yes

[@diogolol8334]

Bro its def easyjet like when there has a problem they land it and there safe so i aint sure plus this is just a light difculty not a rea. Crash they safelty landed at bristol

[@haroldk724]

is it just me or why did they even fly that plane off the ground....... when your already using the " backup" ...what do you have for a "backup Then" Just does seem right or fair to crew and passengers I would rather arrive late than Not at All

[@dlkline27]

This is a story with a major pucker factor. Glad they got down okay. I'm old school but I thought an aircraft with this kind of problem could fly a triangle to declare an emergency.

[@MorganBrown]

Somehow, the name “EasyJet” does not inspire confidence Nice work by the captain, in any event. He kept it together and thought pretty well on his feet

[@ellentronicmistress4969]

I see your point, though Easyjet has never had a fatality or hull loss since its inception.

[@sierraromeomike]

How do you like 'SpiceJet'?

[@MorganBrown]

@@sierraromeomike sounds like you could join the mile high club on either of those! 😂

[@soaringvulture]

@@MorganBrown He couldn't do it alone.

[@russellfitzpatrick503]

All well and good having multiple electrical systems and computer assistance ... but, when the electrical system itself shuts down by accident, all the computers in the world won't save you. Fortunately this plane had some decent crew on board

[@davidhoekje7842]

And when the electrical system isolates itself into unpowered segments in response to a faulty error message. doh

[@psalm2forliberty577]

I find it humorous this A319 was Registered "G-EZAC", as restoring their A/C power was anything but EZ...

[@colinminch793]

Further more, this jet was anything but easy…

[@donalfinn4205]

I do like these interesting vids!☘️👍

[@maxtornogood]

This could have easily ended poorly but they both kept cool heads about the situation.

[@jimdavies6764]

So if an electrical contact fails, you may get shot down.

[@jackwoods9604]

Cant Even Call ATC With a Cell Phone....Crazy Situation

[@b.t.356]

EasyJet more like ScaryJet!

[@mosessupposes2571]

That would be so crazy to have the possibility of being identified as a hostile aircraft on top of everything else.

[@Fluffy-Fluffy]

Just wondering, do you think most people understand all this technical stuff at the end?

[@mbvoelker8448]

I kept waiting for someone to make a mistake and cause a disaster, but they did everything right. Would have been good to include what was happening from the ATC side with a non-communicating aircraft coming in to land without normal clearances.

[@MrCrystalcranium]

What a terrifying mess...stuck in an electric airplane with massive electrical faults, shutdowns and no coms. I would be in a panic that the fly by wire system could fail at any moment. Balsy decision to fly to Bristol. A transformer intermittent fault. Transformers contain miles of wire as thin as a human hair wound in a coil eventually soldered to a set of normal gauge wires taped down to the internal structure to avoid wire stress from breaking these fragile windings. The fate of those passengers hanging on way way way less than a thread. Frightening.

[@colinminch793]

I’ll be right back, just going to go get my aviation electronics engineering degree.

[@LegendaryRadioJock]

After watching this, I can't help thinking "Stab Lok" circuit breaker panels from Federal Pacific.

[@jeffreymcdonald8267]

Blah, blah, blah about the GLC this and the GCU that, it means nothing in the grand scheme of things. For all we know its the Airline covering their asp. Bottom line : this Captain performed phenomenally. He deserves the highest praise. He not only maintained total control of his aircraft he also had the foresight to predict possible repercussions from the inability of his aircraft to comm with the ground. And he took precautions to maintain his flight path so as not to appear to be a hijacked aircraft. This is just my humble opinion.

[@dgriffin6074]

The "defective contact in a transformer in the GCU circuitry". Wow; what a coincidence! That's exactly what I thought it was;.LOL

[@Capecodham]

GCU?

[@amazer747]

Yes, I had one of them but the wheel came off

[@gunsaway1]

Don’t like their automatic systems. Don’t like Airbus. Scarebus is what we called them.

[@tomstravels520]

Cause you're too scared of them despite certain Boeings having worse problems

[@philipthomas6808]

I would think a commercial or any military aircraft have a 3rd or tertiary backup of a simple handheld radio to be able to contact ATC???

[@davhuf3496]

I could not do avionics! Sheesh

[@derbagger22]

What happened on the ground? Did they have anyone to approach them quickly? As for the cause and explanation, it was a bunch of electrical mumbo jumbo I don't quite understand.

[@frasermitchell9183]

Every time I see things like this, I really do wonder about the competence of the engineers designing these systems. It is as if they are so arrogant, they never, ever, consider that their designs just might fail. One would think the very least facility one would take totally independent steps to guarantee would be (1) transponder, and (2) comms with the ground. Yet these had no independent back up. Shameful, really.

[@pomerau]

Totally. This was scary. Ultimately once you glaze over the technical references (well I did, though I hung on in there for a while), they did not foresee what turned out to be a PHYSICAL fault imv, a welded / arced CLOSED contactor /switch on a circuit board or whatever. Not predicted, and taked virtually the whole plane with it. Have they really ensured since 2006 that nothing similar to this will happen again, to lesser quality pilots? I'm concerned.

[@billolsen4360]

I have always thought that airplane design had strict government technical oversight. Not implying that we can necessarily trust 🤪governments all the time.

[@davidhoekje7842]

As features or components rise linearly complexity increases exponentially. I don't think it's arrogance, I think it's likely the use of lists of the most likely failure scenarios and the need to assume that some components are trusted, otherwise there are too many variables to account for. Who watches the watchers. In a perfect world redundancy would overcome the need to consider every scenario, unfortunately electrical supply is foundational.

[@jtveg]

Thanks for sharing. 😉👌🏻

[@JuanGonzalez-cx2fg]

Flight 6074 still flies from Alicante to Bristol!

[@A.NGaming08]

Request: Sichuan Airlines flight 8633

[@giostisskylas]

Please produce an episode about the crash of Nürnberger Flugdienst Flight 108 on February 8th, 1988 in the German Ruhr Valley.

[@azopene]

How about a hand held aircraft band radio and a jack to plug it into an outside antenna if the radio's antenna wasn't good enough.

[@bmcgoo6027]

Thanks for the extremely technical description of the problem. In layman's terms, the electrics were f*cked. But my main question is, why didn't Bristol ATC answer their phone?

[@tomstravels520]

It wasn't ATC not answering, Pilot couldn't get signal to call them

[@davestrang8585]

Value jets sister😮

[@Cosmic-Wanderer]

SleazyJet

[@maverickhistorian6488]

That's what they were known as when I worked at London Stansted airport. 😁

[@maverickhistorian6488]

Ryanair were called Scumair.

[@liamb8644]

I think the term sleazyjet was last used around the time of this incident.

[@gilbertfranklin1537]

I hope all 34,000 other viewers of this video understood the analysis of the problem better than I did. Geez!

[@3rdandlong]

Scary if you ask me. No power? No radio? No Transponder? Time to freak out.

[@moiraatkinson]

Not very often EasyJet are featured in these types of videos.

[@Kevin_747]

Electrical gremlins on an all electric airplane, what a surprise.

[@wazza7575]

What do you prefer, cables and wood?

[@robodabbler]

@@wazza7575 Coal fired aircraft, I suppose.

[@TomCook1993]

This is called “Being handed a Shit Sandwich”

[@windcrumb1500]

Actually it was a brand new A319

[@SinergiaAlUnisono]

So... "something failed apparently". The end ! (finally uffffffffffffffff)

[@ohioguy215]

Thank you for flying SLEAZY JET to your destination. We'll have added amenities at the crash site such as ambulances, firefighters, cots and blankets and as a bonus...free IV's. Welcome aboard folks!

[@bomasom]

How do you spell gibberish?

[@airaction2257]

I'm surprised any aircraft is allowed to fly with any form of fault be it electrical or otherwise.

[@alexandermonro6768]

The cost implication would be that a "low cost" ticket between Spain and the UK would cost about £10,000. The great unwashed public must have their cheap holiday flights, even if the full price has to sometimes be paid in blood.

[@reasonablerage4370]

If this was at night I'm almost certain this situation would have ended in death

[@pauldow1648]

Flying on a backup system because primary system not functioning, then backup system fails inflight.?

[@cruzcontrol1504]

.....in a taxi near JFK, dumping fuel....2 souls on board...

[@blrenx]

Oh what do you know,? Another APU does it's best to troubleshoot the problem and quickly fix it, faster than any human. Follow by the 300 knot ride into the ground.

[@mogwaifan7094]

The air traffic control in Bristol should have answered the phone call from the captain

[@LegendaryRadioJock]

You're assuming the calls were completed successfully.

[@tomstravels520]

The phone call never went through because pilot couldn't get signal

[@marthybalboa3357]

Yey made it 1hr after the video got release

[@SriMulyani-zi7ds]

There should that plane with American Airlines b777

[@kennyvilbert4608]

When do you face cam?

[@scottyp1348]

What’s with the advertisements

[@dutchy777]

and what are ESS, IDG2 and BTC?? how the hell are we supposed to this, we are not pilots!

[@qanon_qanon]

So it comes down to bad electrical design by Airbus engineers - in fact the "over engineering" of the welded contacts contactors was their downfall, most good circuits use safety contactors and not try to second guess whether the contacts have welded or not. Over complicated when KISS works every time.

[@fredmitchel1236]

Come on Let's Fly..I meant lets crash. They were fortunate... There should be backup VHF radio from a battery.... All this runduncacy...many buses....failed...

[@christosvoskresye]

Sheesh! But if the military had shot the plane down, thinking it to have been hijacked, I wonder if we would ever have been told the truth.